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The all the clubs events including Competitions (and venues) and Training are on the online Club Calendar

Fees are due on our return to training in September, please pay promptly

The club is run on a no profit basis. The fees pay for hire of the gym, purchase of equipment and Coach and Judge training. Thank you for your prompt payment

Club News

NEWS UPDATE 19th December 2018 - I hope everyone remembered that tonight's training centre was cancelled by the Uni (presumably to allow for a well-earned festive night out for the staff) and the competition squad have an extra session tomorrow evening as we roll forward to our last training session before Christmas. Friday evening we have training as usual, and this is open to wednesday evening and saturday morning gymnasts as we have no recreational classes on saturday.

This news update is also to congratulate Flames gymnasts who have achieved a place in the metropolitan county squad for 2019. Well done Anya, Emily, Gabi, Juliann and Laura. Holly and Makayla have their trials in January 2019. Regional trials are also planned for January 2019 and we wish 'good luck' to Hannah, Holly and Willow for this.

Finally, the results of the Annual Club Championships have been posted on the results page. Photos to follow when the web-editor gets 5 minutes to post them! Results can also be found via this link. Brilliant work girls, a lovely afternoon of competitive and friendly gymnastics in our own home gym. now we look forward to our displays this saturday!

NEWS UPDATE 9th December 2018 - More congratulations to our gymnasts and coaches today. At the Inter County Championships (the John Reeves Inter County Champs)
Flames gymnasts Anya, Laura, Emily, Makayla and Julianna all represented the Metropolitan County and achived silver at both senior and junior teams. This is a great achievement, and continues the long success of Flames gymnasts at this important competition (now in its 30th year).Scores can be found via this link and on our results page. Also Gabi took part in her first competition - a practice for the regional compulsory 5 competition in April 2019. Gabi achieved an excellent 8th place. Brilliant. Scores posted on the results page and also via this link!

News about christmas training times to follow in the next few days, and are available on a handout at the club!

NEWS UPDATE 25th November 2018 - Massive congratulations to our level 2 team who competed in the West Midlands Regional Team Championships today at Cannock. Our girls achieved bronze medal position, and had the top vault score for the level (Willow) and top 3 placings on vault (Anya) and floor (Holly). The team showed such a wonderful team spirit it was a lesson in support and encouragement. Scores are on the results page or can be found by clicking here. Pics will be posted next week when our web editor is back from his trip to Zurich!

For our squad girls, we look forward to welcoming back Mimi Cesar next Saturday to continue to develop the girls artistry and dance skills and we are also preparing for the inter-county John Reeves Championships and the precompulsory 5 competition in 2 weeks time.

Busy times indeed!!

NEWS UPDATE 22nd October 2018 - yesterday we again welcomed the stunning Mimi Cesar, who represented England in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and who has been British Champion several times as a rhythmic gymnast. Mimi is supporting the competition squad gymnasts focussing on their flexibility and their artistry which is so very important on beam and floor. Look out for our new floor routines over the next few months. For more info about Mimi do have a look on the BG website or any of the Commonwealth Games 'Birmingham 2022' promotion where she is very much the face of the games!

NEWS UPDATE 22nd October 2018 - CONGRATULATIONS to gymnasts Jess, Scarlett and Julianna and coach Kenzie, who competed in the Regional Level 5 competition this weekend. The scores can be found via this link or on the results page. A special shout out for Julianna who achieved a top 10 place despite an unfortunate fall on her front somi on floor. Such a shame, but just a bit of over-excitement was to blame for being uncontrolled on the landing! We are now preparing for the team competition and inter county john reeves competition in the next few months. In the meantime we are excited to welcome international gymnasts Mimi Cesar back to the club to work on dance skills, flexibility and performance with the girls. Look out for more news as it comes through....

NEWS UPDATE 1st October 2018 - Sorry for the amount of time between news updates; but hopefully this will make up for lost time! CONGRATULATIONS to all our gymnasts and coaches who competed in the Regional Championships this weekend at Cannock. I am delighted to share the results via our competitions results page or via this link. We will post our pics this week, including a lovely picture of the girls with the wonderful Taeja James. Especially well done this weekend to Willow who took home a bronze medal at In Age 2, and to all the girls who competed new skills they have learned over the summer. Well done everyone. Finally thank you to all the mums, days, gymnasts and coaches who helped to host the event, and again a special mention of Cordelia who managed to persuade so many people to get involved and made sure all the roles were shared out! thank you!!

NEWS UPDATE 22nd July 2018 - Sorry for the amount of time between news updates; but hopefully this will make up for lost time! CONGRATULATIONS to all our gymnasts and coaches who competed in the Metropolitan County Championships last weekend (Sunday 15th July) at Wolverhampton GC. We had great performances and some good results but we can also take away some thoughts about where we can make improvements. Our biggest congratulations go to our medal winners Willow, Laura, Holly, Emily, Makayla, Julianna, Gabi and Jessica. The results can be found on our results page and by clicking here.

The club will soon be launching 'Team App' as a means of contacting and updating members when needed. You will receive more information as soon as we are ready to go live.

We have purchased more kit in recent months, and have new kit arriving this week ... check out the fundraising page for more details.

NEWS UPDATE 28th May 2018 - CONGRATULATIONS HANNAH for a fantastic competition representing the West Midlands at the National Finals for the NDP Grade 1 (National 1) at Fenton Manor yesterday. The team came in 4th place and Hannah achieved a brilliant individual 11th place. Hannah came 6th on floor and 10th on range and conditioning .... what a star!!! Well done to Hannah and her coach Brogan - what a team! Now we focus our efforts on preparing the girls and finalising routines for the County Championships in just 7 weeks time in Wolverhampton. No time to rest, straight back into the hard work of competition prep. Well done again to superstar Hannah. The NDP 1 scores can be found by clicking here.Team results here

NEWS UPDATE 17th May 2018 - Parents bringing children to Flames on SATURDAY 19TH MAY please note we have received the following message from teh university: We are carrying out some small scale tarmac repairs to the entrance to the rear of George Cadbury Hall on Saturday 19th May, access will still be available and will be controlled by the contractor. I am sorry for any inconvenience or delays you may experience on Saturday. Alison

NEWS UPDATE 13th May 2018 - I am very excited to let you know that thanks to all your fund raising efforts including the contributions to our 'honesty box' we have been able to buy a new extra soft safety mat and two 'booster' blocks for use in the gym. We also have a new springboard on order. We have bought this new kit to replace some kit which was owned by other clubs and which they have taken with them when they have left the Gillett. Thank you to Mark for supplying a van to move the kit from the delivery address to the Gillett. As always, we are indebted to parents and volunteers for their generosity in donations of time, energy and endless supplies of tea, coffee and snacks.

The results of today's West Midlands Novice Competition which took place at Cannock can be found on our results page or by clicking here.

NEWS UPDATE 29th April 2018 - Congratulations to our wonderful competitors this weekend. Makayla, Neyah, Jessica, Scarlett and Makayla all competed at Cannock and everyone one of them passed with flying colours. An extra-loud 'well done' goes to Makayla for achieving 8th place in the In Age Grade 5 competition and to Julianna for the hightes vault score of the day in the In Age Grade 6 competition. We couldnt be prouder! Scores for the weekend of competitions can be found on our scores and comp results page or by clicking here. The pics page has been updated enjoy all the new pics!

NEWS UPDATE 26th April 2018 - A few bits of news .... On Sunday 22nd April, coach Rachel Johnson gave birth to a beautiful 8lb 3oz baby girl who she has called Omara Rebecca. We are so happy to hear that mother and daughter are doing very well, and we cant wait to see her at Flames at some time in the future. Rachel is a coach on Friday evenings and saturday mornings and is also one of our Regional Judges.

We have also waved 'bye bye' (again) to Cerys Bell-Bedlow who has been with us for a few weeks whilst she was on holiday from Australia. This was Cerys' 3rd visit to Flames, and as always she was a real pleasure to have in the gym. Cerys has now formally retired from competitive gymnastics, and has since been a competitive pole vaulter, and now coaches gymnastics with Swan Districts Gymnastics in Perth. We are looking forward to Cerys coming back to Flames again at some time in the future.

Fees - are due on the 1st May.... please pay on line or bring in cash / cheque to your next training session; thank you!

NEWS UPDATE 16th April 2018 - Pictures of the girls in yesterdays comp are now in the Photos page in the 2018 folder.

NEWS UPDATE 15th April 2018- Another great weekend of competitions!! Congratulations to all our gymnasts and their coaches; especially to Hannah on achieving a place to represent the West Midlands in the National Finals at Fenton Manor on the 26th/27th May. Scores can be seen on our results page or by clicking here. Pics will be posted very soon! Well done again girls. Now its time for the younger girls to get ready for their competition in two weeks time!

NEWS UPDATE 13th March - We have been asked by the University to remind parents not to park in the Fircroft College car park. We are keen to maintain our excellent relationship with the Uni. If you do park in Fircroft car park a club official will ask you to re-park in an agreed space behind or at the side of George Cadbury Hall.

NEWS UPDATE 4th March - Training fees are due - please pay on line or bring fees to the gym next time your daughter trains. All sessions are back to usual times following our snowy disruptions! Thank you for your patience. Friday and Saturday morning gymnasts please note your fees this period will be reduced to cover the missed session. If you have alread paid on line, and have overpaid please speak with the person looking after the register / reception next time you visit.

NEWS UPDATE 2nd March 14.46) BREAKING NEWS! - sadly the inclement weather as forcast is closing in and we have decided to CANCEL tonights sesssion (2nd March) for safety reasons - Please check here or on Twitter and Whats App for any announcements regarding tommorows (Sat 3rd March) sessions.

NEWS UPDATE 1st March 2018 - Due to the adverse weather conditions and poor driving conditions, we are currently considering CANCELLATION of tomorrow (Friday 2nd) and Saturday (3rd) training sessions. Please check this website or twitter or whatsapp group for updates prior to setting out. If there is no improvement before tomorrow evening it is very likely training will be cancelled. We are sorry for any disappointment, but safety must come first ... check social media or here tomorrow for an update.

NEWS UPDATE 18th February 2018 - How quickly the weeks fly by! we are now very settled in our new home, and have welcomed the arrival of heating to ensure we dont shiver througout our sessions any longer. Our membership is starting to creep back up again after a bit of a dip during the move to the Gillett. Thank you everyone for sticking with us (or joining us if you are new), and please do get in touch with any of the coaches or volunteers with any ideas you have for fundraising or improvements in the club.

Congratulations to Izzy, Kenz, Elise and Brogan for their success in the Club Judging Course; we await BG validation but are quietly confident in our acheivements!

NEWS UPDATE 7TH JANUARY 2018 - Happy New Year to all of our members and to other gymnastic clubs who may glance at this page. All of our regular recreational and competition squad sessions are now back up and running, and we hope to see you all back with us over the next few days (if you havent already returned this weekend). Fees are also due for this 8-week term. Please complete a bank transfer or bring in cash / cheque to the club. Thank you! For competition gymnasts, the annual competition and supplementary training schedule is available on the 'comp squad info' page or by clicking here.

NEWS UPDATE 27th DECEMBER 2017 - Happy Christmas everyone, and wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

Congratulations to Emily, Holly, Laura, Makayla and Nefetare (Level 4 team) and Anya, Hannah and Willow (Level 2 team) on their sucess at the West Midlands Regional Team Championships held at Cannock on Sunday 19th November. Both teams achieved 2nd place, which makes us all very proud! Also we were delighted to see Emily and Hannah achieve 1st place rosette for their vaults - excellent work girls! Competition scores are available on our results page and also via this link.

Please note that this Saturday (25th Nov), the usual entrance to the car park by the George Cadbury Hall will be closed for resurfacing, so you will need to enter the car park via College Walk.

Our Gymnasts haveworked hard to fund raise in November, with Halloween, Antibullying and Children in Need all featuring in our fundraising schedule. Totals will be published on our fundraising page at the end of the month, but in the meantime, thank you to our gymnasts, their families and the coaches for your work to raise funds for Flames.

We are sorry the heating has still not been fully installed, the University has informed us that the supplier of a necessary pump has failed to deliver and there will be a further delay - gymnasts are encouraged to work extra hard to keep warm (!) and will wear extra layers whenever they are in the men's gym which is where the cold is most obvious.

NEWS UPDATE 12th NOVEMBER 2017 -

ANTI-BULLYING WEEK 2017 'All different, all equal' (13TH - 17TH NOVEMBER) - Flames has signed up to the national Anti -Bullying Alliance anti-bullying week for 2017. We will be celebrating what makes us all different, all equal and ask our gymnasts to design posters which we can display through the year to show who you can talk to if you are worried about bullying. If you would like to design a poster, please bring it in to the gym anytime over the next few weeks.

As part of signing up to the campaign, we invite all of our gymnasts and coaches to wear odd socks which aims to show and appreciate individuality and uniqueness. For more information please do have a look at the antibullying alliance website https://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/anti-bullying-week/odd-socks-day-anti-bullying-week-0

NEWS UPDATE 7th NOVEMBER 2017 -

Congratulations to Makayla and Neyah for a great competition on the 29th October. Makayla has achieved a place in the Metropolitan County Team to represent the county in the John Reeves Inter-County Championships in December. Scores for the level 5 in age competition can be found on our results page or by clicking here! the out of age results are also posted on our results page. Photos from the competition are on the pictures page here

Congratulations also to Willow who represtented the West Midlands in the National Finals for the Age Group Championships (level 3) at Guildford this weekend (4th November). This was Willow's first National Finals and she had a great day especially on beam and floor where we saw solid performances. The competition is made up of the top 4 gymnasts within the age group from each of the 12 regions in the Country, so a real chance to see and be amongst future olympians and world champions. Talking of which, Willow got to meet the very brilliant Max Whitlock after the competition, bagged a photo and got her competition number autographed. Scores have not yet been posted on the BG website but will be available soon. Photos will be posted very soon!

NEWS UPDATE 22ND OCTOBER 2017 -

Just to say; we are loving our new facility at the Gillett Centre. Yes, its a bit tighter / smaller than we are used to, and involves 2 separate rooms but its working well, and we hope the new kit stays in pristine condition for a long time to come. Please look out for any changes to car parking charges. At the moment the Uni website has not posted any changes https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/has/sustainable-travel/car-parking.aspx; but there is talk of weekday charging up to 6pm (so if you arrive just before 6 you would possibly be ok, but if you arrive very early you may find car park charges apply). We will post information as and when we receive it.
Good luck to our gymnastsNeyah Dontay and Makayla Radbourne who will be competing in the West Midlands Level 5 competition in Cannock next weekend. Also we wish very good luck to Willow Mackenzie who will be competing for the West Midlands at the Age Group National Finals in Guildford on the 4th November.

Membership - Parents are asked to visit the British Gymnastics website to now register your daughter for their membership. Remember you have paid the club already so there is no more to pay as long as you have paid the club first. If you have not paid the club, you can still register the club, but this will not be processed until the payment has been received.

Fundraising - Thank you to our group of active fundraising parents, your support is very much appreciated by the coaches and gymnasts. A big thank you to TSG Electrical Services Ltd who have donated a massive £1250 to the clubn recently. More information is available on the fundraising page.

NEWS UPDATE 11th SEPTEMBER 2017 - CONGRATULATIONS to all our Flames Gymnasts and coaches for their success at the West Midlands Regional Championships this weekend. After a summer of travelling around the region to different training venues after the closure of Munrow, we were truly wowed with how well our gymnasts performed. There is lots we could have done better with more time in the gym - our own gym - but now we are settled in our new home of the Gillett Centre, Selly Oak, we are ready for a very bright future. We thank the Uni for its ongoing support of gymnastics, and of the work of Flames Gym Club; without the Uni we would not have the success we have.

We especially congratulate Hannah Shroff who took the gold medal and trophy for the Level 2 out of age competition, taking an additional two rosettes, for 1st place on vault and beam, and 2nd on bars. We are very proud of Laura Henderson's 1st place on beam in the Level 4 out of age competition. Beam is always a tough piece to score well in competition as you need nerves of steel to stay calm and therefore stay on all skills. Willow McKenzie also achieved an amazing 2nd place on floor in the Level 3 in age competition. All our gymnasts are stars in their own right, but the girls who acheived these places are worthy of special mention!

NEWS UPDATE3RD SEPTEMBER 2017 - We are now re-opening our doors at Flames NEW HOME of gymnastics at the GILLETT CENTRE, Selly Oak. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday classes will run as normal this week. SATURDAY CLASSES DO NOT RECOMMENCE UNTIL SATURDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER. Your child's training fees will be due at their first session (for an 8 week term) and we will confirm the arrangements for British Gymnastics and West Midlands Gymnastics membership when you return. All gymnasts are required to be registered as a member of British Gymnastics. For information about our fees please read the 'about flames' page. Please also see the home page or via the footer of all pages for information about where to find us, car parking and other useful information! If all else fails and you cant find the information you need, please text or email your question and I will get back to you as quickly as I can.

NEWS UPDATE 31st August 2017 - EXCITING AND IMPORTANT NEWS FLASH!!! FLAMES WILL RE-OPEN IT'S DOORS NEXT WEEK! After a few weeks of waiting, the Gillett Centre is now open for gymnastics. We are delighted to continue our long-term partnership with the University of Birmingham and UniSportBham with our move to the new facility. Class times will remain the same (unless I hear differently from the uni this week); however our fees have had to increase as the university has singificanly increased the hire charge. Please see the 'about flames' page for details of our new charges. Please also see the home page or via the footer of all pages for information about where to find us, car parking and other useful information! If all else fails and you cant find the information you need, please text or email your question and I will get back to you as quickly as I can.

Such exciting times ahead, I cant wait to show you all around our new facility..... there are some photos on the 'pics' page to whet your appetite.

NEWS UPDATE 12th August 2017 - Well, that's Munrow time done! We have now had our last session at the Munrow Centre and are really excited about our move to the Gillet Centre in a few weeks time. I will post all details as soon as they are available, and will get some photos put on the pics page to wet your appetite!! Squad girls you know you have a few weeks of training in lots of different venues around the region - what an opportunity to see other clubs in training and enjoy the chance to train on different kit. Exciting times.

Thank you to the parents and coaches (and of course the gymnasts) who helped with the move to Gillet, we wouldnt have all the kit we needed if you hadnt been there to help. Thank you to the parents who are currently looking after kit that was needed for our last session and therefore wasnt moved with all the other kit.

More to follow as soon as we can - and we will be updating the rest of the website too to reflect our new training venue.

NEWS UPDATE 6th August 2017 - We are excitedly entering our last week at the Munrow Centre before our few weeks 'on the road' before moving to our new home at the Gillet Centre, Selly Oak in September. Work is still being completed on the site, and Gymnova have already been in and set up the main training area; with just the 3-squash-courts conversion and fitting to complete. Parents and coaches packed and labelled kit at Munrow yesterday, to make sure we have enough things to use this week, and to make sure our essentials make their way over to Gillet.

FRIDAY gymnasts / parents please note, there is NO TRAINING this Friday (11th) as the remaining kit will have been removed ahead of demolition work (!) but we have been able to arrange an extra session at 6pm on THURSDAY 10TH AUGUST instead. This is just for Friday gymnasts.

Competition squad gymnasts, you should have seen the training schedule for the next few weeks, and I would like to thank Wolverhampton, Worcester, Chelmsley Wood, Revolution and Tamworth gym clubs for accomodating us for a few weeks. We couldnt have been more supported.

I'll update this site with information about our move to Gillet as soon as it is available.

NEWS UPDATE 23rd July 2017 - Congratulations to all our fantastic Flames gymnasts and their coaches for a great County Championships today. An extra big cheer for our medal winners too. With just a few weeks until the regional championships, we are going to be working hard in the gym to make routines even cleaner and stronger, and scores even higher.

NEWS UPDATE 20th July 2017 - Just a quick note to say Flames is still alive and kicking in the old Munrow Sports Centre. All our classes are still running as normal. The centre looks completely closed, but the gymnastics facility can still be accessed via a new entrance at the furthest end of the car park. If you aren't sure how to find us, please email, text or phone 07973209630 (but if I am in the gym, I wont be picking u calls so do leave a message).

NEWS UPDATE 8th June 2017 - Due to a uni competition, our squad training will finish at 4pm this Saturday (10th) June - if you have problems collecting your daughter at this earlier time, please let Al know!

Fees are due w/c 12th June, please either make a bank transfer or bring cheque / cash to the gym next week. Hopefully you have all found us via our new entrance at the door at the far end of the car park!!!

NEWS UPDATE 7TH MAY 2017 - DUE TO THE PLANNED MOVE TO 360, THE MUNROW CENTRE WILL BE CLOSED ON SATURDAY 20TH MAY (AND SUNDAY 21ST). THEREFORE THERE WILL BE NO FLAMES GYMNASTICS SESSIONS ON THESE DATES. We are sorry for any disappointment caused by this temporary closure.

I know lots of people are asking about the future of Flames once the Munrow Centre closes on 20th May. I am delighted that we have been given the opportunity to continue to train at the Munrow Centre after it closes, until our new centre is ready for action. The Centre will not be staffed by University staff, so our entry into the building is likely to be via the far end of the car park - currently a fire exit. This is still to be finalised, but work is well underway. We will need to implement new processes to satisfy all of the health and safety requirements, and we ask that everyone helps us to make our new arrangements a success. We have been supported by University Sport Birmingham to move to a different facility which the university has funded to be fully kitted out with all new Gymnova kit. We have been given a real chance to continue Flames and am delighted it is not far away from our current home. More details will be available as soon as I have had agreement from the Uni to make announcements.

Sorry! I realise I didnt post a notice congratulating our gymnasts and coaches after the first grades competition weekend. We had a good weekend, and the scores have been posted on the results page, but just in case you have only looked on this page; you can click here for the scores! Well done girls!! Information about the second weekend of competitions is in the next posting below. Sorry everyone, but better late than never..... ..

Competition success! A very well done to all Flames gymnasts and coaches who took part in this weekend's West Midlands Grades 6, 5 and 4.. We are delighted to see all our gymnasts have achieved a 'commended' or 'distrinction' score with Laura Henderson winning the Out of Age Grade 5 competition and Holly Saunders winning the bronze medal in the In Age Grade 5 competition. We are so proud of all of our gymnasts achievements. All the scores can be found on our results page or by clicking here. Photos to follow! If parents have any photos we can add to the website please do send them in.

County Training next Sunday morning at Wolverhampton; usual times.

Please note different training times over the Easter period (see below).

News Update on 16th March 2017; its been far too long since our last update, sorry everyone - its been a busy few months, even though we havent had competitions we have had county squad and regional squad trials to get through and plans for our future gym to consider! Anyway, here we are in March and its the first of our Regional competitions happening at Cannock Leisure Centre this Saturday and Sunday. So, we wish the very best of luck to Anya, Hannah, Lucy and Willow who are all competing on Saturday afternoon.

There isnt much to update you all with our new gym plans, but you will probably know that we have been working with the University to create a new gymnastics facilicty in Northfield. Plans are well underway and all being well we will be able to stay in slater hall until the new facility is ready. As the kit is definitely feeling the strain of all the years, the university has brought forward an order in place for the new gym to replace the U-pit bar which is now definitely past it use-by date. Other kit we are hoping will stay usable until we move to our new home which will be fully kitted out with fantastic new Gymnova kit. We are feeling very fortunate to have this opportunity and thank everyone for your patience whilst we sort all this out.

News Update on 18th December 2016; yesterday saw the Flames Annual Club Championships take place at the Munrow Sports Centre (possibly for the last time before a move to a new location in 2017). The scores can be found on the comp results page or by clicking here. Photos will be posted soon on the pics page. Great to see Amy and Felicity back in the gym for a few hours. Felicity got her first 'taste' of a gold medal, and it really suited her! This week we are training Tuesday and Wednesday. Any gymnasts for the 7pm Weds class, please come at 6pm as we are finishing early!!! after Wednesday there will be no recreational classes until Friday 6th January 2017. Squad gymnasts you know you have some extra sessions between Christmas and New Year to shake off the cobwebs.... Any gymnasts who have already broken up for Christmas??? Happy Christmas to you and your families x

News Update on 11th December 2016; after a long wait I have finally posted the scores from the John Reeves InterCounty Championships onto our comp results page. You can go straight to them by clicking here. Very well done to both the Senior and Junior Teams and especially to Hannah Shroff who competed in the senior team and Willow Mackenzie who was reserve for the junior team. Both teams achieved silver medal placings.

Today the following Flames gymnasts have achieved a place in the Metropolitan County Squad for 2017: Anya Hulusi, Hannah Shroff, Willow Mackenzie, Holly Saunders, Nefatare StClaire-Hughes, Emily Casey, Laura Henderson and Makayla Radbourne. Well done to all of our gymnasts and their coaches for this great achievement. Regional Squad places are yet to be confirmed and we will post information as soon as we have it.

Finally, for everyone who is still wondering what is happening about finding a new training venue. We are continuing to work with University Sport Birmingham / 360 to develop a new facility away from the main campus. We definitely wont be moving to the new 360 centre, but will be arranging to stay at Munrow until Summer 2017 when we will hopefully move to our brand new home. Fingers crossed things do seem to be moving in a very positive direction at the moment!!

New Email Address ! from the 14th November the clubs email address will changed to - flames_gymnastics_club@btinternet.com . Please make a note of this.

News Update 11th November 2016 - At the end of another full weekend of gymnastics we are delighted to give you the results of theRegional Teams Championships Congratulations to our gymnasts and coaches of the FIG and Level 5 teams. Our FIG team of Izzy, Carys, Lucy, Tahlia and Talia pulled in a well-earned bronze medal and the Level 5 team of Holly, Nefatare, Laura and Emily a respectable 4th place. It was particularly exciting to compete on brand new kit purchased by WMids Gymnastics for the new home of competitions from 2017 (Chase Leisure Centre Cannock). At a cost close to £100,000 the WMids Gymnastics Association made a fantastic commitment to womens gymnastics in the region, and it was a real privilege for our gymnasts to compete on this first class equipment.

For now we are all back in the gym on Tuesday, working towards the last two competitions of the year - the John Reeves Inter County Championships, in which Hannah Shroff has a place in the Level 3 team and Willow reserve for Level 4 and last but not least our Annual Club Championships on Saturday 17th December.

Pictures from the competition this weekend will be posted on the pics page tomorrow or Tuesday but do send Al any pictures you have to add to the gallery.

News Update 23rd October 2016 - Congratulations to our Level 5 gymnasts and coaches who competed in the West Midlands Level 5 competition. You can see the scores by clicking here and on the results page. We are all very proud of how well Holly, Nefatare, Emily, Laura and Libby competed. Parents please send any pictures to Al so they can be put in our picture gallery.

News Update 9th October 2016 - The future??? Its been a while since I have been able to write anything about the future with any certainty; but now I am beyond delighted to be able to tell everyone that our lovely partners at the University of Birmingham have agreed to keep the Slater Hall open until next Summer. That gives us some more breathing space to find a new home, and again the Uni are working with us on this. There will be lots to do to allow us to use the Slater Hall after the Munrow Sports Centre closes (a new entrance from the far end of the car park for a start) but things are making steady progress.

Kit - To celebrate our staying at Slater Hall for a while longer, we have spent £2000 on 2 new safety (crash) mats and 2 new blocks (it doesnt sound much for the money but it makes a real difference in the gym!). Thank you for all your hard earned fund raising efforts that has allowed us to do this.

BG and WM membership - please can ALL gymnasts make sure they bring in their membership (insurance) fee as well to their next training session. There are still far too many gymnasts who have not yet paid this, and we will have to stop them from joining in if this is not paid. It is a requirement of British Gymnastics that this is paid.

Good luck to our 5 gymnasts competing in the level 5 competition on 22nd October at North Solihull Sports Centre, Libby Seadon, Nefatare StClair-Hughes, Holly Saunders, Emily Casey and Laura Henderson are spending the next two weeks putting the final touches to their routines following a practice competition this weekend. Wishing oyu all lots of love and luck as you make your final preparations for this competition.

Regional Teams Competition - we have two teams competing in the Regional Teams Competition in November at Chase Leisure Centre. We have entered level 5 and FIG teams for this competition. Parents of the gymnasts selected, please could I ask that you pay entry fees for this competition when you are next at the gym.

Finally, we have some new photos on our photo page so do take a look!

News Update 26th September 2016 - What a full weekend we have just had; full of competitions and training, and with very good results! Well done to all of our gymnasts and coaches for their performances at the West Midlands Regional Championships held at the GMAC. Our biggest congratulations go to our medal winners Talia (Out of Age Level 2 Gold), Lucy (Out of Age Level 2 Silver), Hannah (Out of Age Level 3 bronze). Also congratulations to Willow who achieved a 2nd highest vault score (In Age 4). Competition scores can be found on the comp scores page and also by clicking the link here.

Our next competition is the level 5 competition on 22nd October at North Solihull Sports Centre, and we wish Nefatare, Holly, Emily and Laura lots of love and luck as they go through their final preparations for this competition.

Finally, all our gymnasts need to register / re-register with British Gymnastics and West Midlands Gymnastics by the end of this month. Please can you pay your membership fee before the end of the month to be sure to be able to continue to train from October 1st. More details are available from club officials.

News Update 18th September 2016- its been far too long since our last update, and there can be no excuses other than we have just been in the gym training hard rather than sitting at a computer! So what's important right now?

1. British Gymnastics and West Midlands Gymnastics memberships are both due, so please make sure you bring in £11 for all pre-school gymnasts, £18 for all recreational gymnasts and £42 for all competition gymnasts. This is in addition to the usual 8-week term fees which are also due right now!

2. Flames Squad gymnasts are just about to start their Autumn competition season, so if you see them looking smiling you will know all is going well and if they look frazzled and frustrated, it might just be that their routines arent quite going to plan, but we just keep plugging away at them so we do our absolute best on the day. Good luck to all our gymnasts and coaches, and thank you to the judges who have given up their weekend too.

3. The future of the Munrow Centre - is still unclear, with the new sports centre opening in December, and our bookings only confirmed until then. However we are in discussion with the university to see if its possible that we can continue to hire the gym until it is demolished next year. This gives us time to continue to work with the uni to find a new location for us, and for all the other gymnasts who use the Munrow Centre. We will keep you updated as soon as any certainty is known.

News Update 18th July 2016- Well done to all our Flames Gymnasts and their coaches for another great competition weekend. Medal and trophy photos will be added to the pics page later this week, but in the meantime click here for the scores

News Update 26th June 2016- As many of you will know, we are looking for a new location ready for when the Munrow Sports Centre closes – possibly before the end of the year. We are working closely with Revolution Gymnastics Club to find new premises, with Revolution GC taking the lead to identify and rent premises with a sub-let arrangement to ourselves. As you might imagine, the cost of the project is enormous, and therefore we are jointly asking parents and friends of our clubs to help us keep our costs under control. If you (or someone you know) have expertise or who can offer services in any of the following areas and are wiling to help us with:

Architectural surveys & plans

Building works, excavating sunken pits

Accountancy; with experience working with sports clubs, charities etc.

Business insurance

Applying for funding & grants

If you are able to help with advice, services or can recommend anybody, please let Al know by email (flames_gymnastics_club@yahoo.com) or text or you may prefer to directly email rob@revolutiongymclub.co.uk

Many thanks

Al

News Update 11th June 2016 - sorry its been so long since we added an update but we've been so busy doing gymnastics, the time has just flown by! Anyway, its really important to note that there will be NO TRAINING ON WEDNESDAY 6TH JULY 2016; because the uni have arranged to replace several lights and this involves taking up and replacing the floor. We will give reminders nearer the time, but parents please make a note in your calendars now!

What else - well what's happening about moving to a new gym? No firm news yet I'm afraid, although we are aware that Revolution Gym Club are making steady progress to finding a new gym which we will rent space in, and its looking very positive. As soon as there is any firm news of the plans, we will make sure everyone knows.

Its only a few weeks till the squad have their next competition, and with lots of new skills being learned we are hopeful that our gymnasts will have lots of exciting new routines to perform. For now, its back into the gym for more fun and hard work ....

News Update 24th April 2016 - congratulations to Lucy Halford and Anya Hulusi and their coaches for a great competition day. A special well done goes to Lucy who won the Silver Medal in the Regional 1 competition. Scores can be found by clicking here. Pictures will be loaded very soon!!

News Update 17th April 2016 - After another day of competitions we are proud to tell the world that all of our gymnasts passed their grade, and Izzy James acheived a place representing the West Midalnds in the National Grade 1 finals at Fenton Manor in May. Scores can be seen by clicking here, and also can be found via the results page. Pictures will be posted soon. The score sheet from last weekend has also been updated, and this can be seen by clicking here.

Our thoughts today are also with former Flames gymnast Becky Hunt who competed with Flames just a few years ago. Becky's Mum Gaynor, a Registered Nurse with Bham Community Healthcare Trust sadly passed away this weekend. We cannot imagine your sadness Becky and hope memories of happy times give you some strength.

News Update 10th April 2016 - At the end of a busy weekend of competitions, we are delighted to post the scores for you today. The West Midlands Grades 6 & 5 competitions took place at North Solihull Sports Centre, with 226 young girls performing their routines under the eagle eyes of the judges. For Flames Nefatare St-Claire Hughes competed in the Grade 6 in age competition and Willow Mackenzie in the Grade 5 in age competition. Nefatare had a score which is classed as 'Commended' and Willow a 'Distinction'. The full scores are available by clicking here or via the scores page.

Now we we are preparing for the National Grades competition next Sunday at GMAC and the Regional Grades the Sunday after that at Munrow. Work hard girls ... hard work pays off!

News Update 28th March 2016 - Happy Easter everyone! Time has flown by since our last news update - sorry! We were delighted to see Amy and Carl visit with Felicity Catherine when she was all of a week old. I guess we may have to wait a while until she is old enough to start her gymnastics! Our grades competition season is about to begin, and we are in the last stages of preparing for 3 weekends of competitions throughout April. Our first competition is Grades 6, 5 and 4 at North Solihull Sports Centre on the 9th & 10th April; then the National and Compulsory Grades at GMAC on Sunday 17th April and finally the Regional Grades on the 24th April at Munrow Centre. Flames will be hosting the last competition, and we hope Mums and Gymnasts will be willing to help to put on a great day.

Many people have asked about the future and what will happen when the Munrow Centre closes - all I can offer at this stage is that we are still working on it. There are no plans to discontinue Flames, but at this point in time, there is nothing certain to tell everyone. I am sorry, as I know its a real worry for us all. My heart is still in gymnastics and it will take more than a closing building to separate me from my sport!! As soon as we have news, we will share it. Suffice to say, the need for a training facility its never far from my mind....

Finally, Squad gymnasts please note that this Saturday we will have a practice competition (Saturday morning) and there is Sunday training from 12-2 (not 10-1 as previously advertised). See you all back in the gym this week to work off those Easter 'eggcesses'.

News Update 4th March 2016 - Flames Gym Club is delighted and excited to congratulate coach Amy Clarke and Carl on the birth of their daughter on Wednesday evening (2nd March). A healthy 5lb 11ozs Baby Flame took everyone by surprise by arriving a little earlier than expected, and we send love and happiness from everyone at Flames to Amy and Carl.

News Update 10th February 2016

Sunday training for competition squad gymnasts - there is Sunday training on the following dates / times:

21st Feb 12-2
3April 10-1
8 May 10-1
29 May 12-3
12 Jun 12-3
Please can gymnasts make every effort to attend these additional sessions, especially the two before the Grades competitions.

Grades competion date changes - Grade 6, 5, 4 are now on the 9&10 April at North Solihull Sports Centre (Chelmsley Wood); National and Compulsory Grades plus the Regional Challenge on the 17th April at GMAC and the remaining regional grades on the 24th April at Munrow. Please make sure you have the correct date and venue in your calendar!!!

News Update 1st February 2016

Time is flying and we are now well into 2016. The grades competitions are fast approaching, and there have been some last minute changes to dates and venues:

Sorry to anyone who booked holidays and family events around the published dates - the change is due to a large event happening at GMAC which meant we could no longer have two days of comps at GMAC

The Future? I know lots of you are asking. Please be assured we are doing what we can to secure a future for Flames gymnasts and coaches when the Munrow Centre closes later this year (possibly June). As soon as the Grades are over we will arrange a meeting for all members to discuss what our plans are. We are sad to lose our home, but we sincerely hope this will not mean the end of gymnastics for our members.

Yesterday we held our Annual Club Championships and were delighted to see a small group of Advanced Recreational gymnasts taking part as well as our competition squad gymnasts. Results can be found on the comp results page or by clicking here for the club comp and here for the overall champs results. Thank you to all our coaches, judges and helpers for making it such a smooth competition, which flew by.

Please remember the recreational gymnastics programme is now officially on holiday! Sessions restart on Tuesday 5th January. Squad training sessions are scheduled for the 22nd (6-9) 23rd (1-4) and 30th (6-8) December - we cant take our eye of the prize can we?!

For gymnasts, coaches and parents we wont see until the new year, we wish you all a very merry christmas and a happy new year.

Congratulations to the Flames Gymnasts and Coaches who took part in the John Reeves Inter-County Championships on Sunday. The gymnasts were representing the Metropolitan County and the senior team achieved silver placing and the junior team bronze. Special 'well done' goes to Carys Maloney who had the highest senior floor score and achieved the 2nd highest senior overall score. Results are on our results page and also can be seen by clicking here.

Annual Photo shoot - we were delighted to welcome DE Photos back to Flames on Satureday. Clarke and his team take amazing photos of the girls both in training and as studio shots. If you didnt get a chance to buy your photos on the day, you can do so from the DEPhoto website. Click this link to view photos: www.dephoto.biz/flames You will need an event code to access the photos so please email the club for the code (flames_gymnastics_club@yahoo.com)

CHRISTMAS OPENING TIMES - Our Christmas schedule is:

Last recreational gymnastics session Friday 18th December (gymnasts who usually attend Saturday mornings are invited to attend any of the evening sessions in the week leading up to this Friday in place of their usual Saturday session)
Last Baby Gym session Saturday 19th December

First recreational session in 2016 Tuesday 5th January
First Baby Gym session Saturday 9th January

After another busy and successful competition weekend - we are settling back into 'normal' training, with an eye on the Inter-County Championships (the John Reeves Championships) and the Club Championships. But of course much of our focus is naturally on our fantastic womens and mens teams at the World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow. Some lucky Flames gymnasts and coaches went to watch it all live. How fantastic, silver for the men and bronze for the women, and a place at the Rio Olympics ....... history in the making, well done to the British teams.

But want about things closer to home? We had just two competitors in the West Midlands Level 5 In Age and Out of Age Championships (North Solihull Sports Centre 24th October 215). How fantastic for Akilah Amon, one of Flames newest gymnasts, who joined just a few short weeks ago with little formal gymnastics coaching. She did her first competition (out of age) and even managed to perform a skill on bars which she hadnt mastered in the gym, having only done with help - a sign of a true competitor. And Willow Mackenzie too In age), what a great competition, with clean routines (no falls or mishaps), and smiling all the way through. Its been a tough few weeks getting ready, and big thanks go to coaches Amy, Brogan and Lauren and judge Lisa for all the guidance. We cant do it without you all! Scores will be on the results page of this website and you can also click this link to the scores if you prefer!

Annual Photo Shoot - we are delighted to have DE Photos back for another day of studio and action shots in the gym. Remember all photos purchased raise money for Flames equipment and running costs, so please do support us in this event on the 5th December. DE Photos do lovely individual and group studio shots, so bring family members along for photos which make first class Christmas Gifts. If you really wish you had a photo of your daughter doing one of her stunning gymnastic skills - you just need to say, and DE will help make it possible.

And so to Xmas! The Flames Xmas party this year will be on Saturday 12th Deember at Stirchley Bowl Helen has all the details and we hope lots of you will join us for an evenng of fun and food. Please let Helen know if you are coming along - there is a small charge but we have plenty of spaces booked for family members to come along.

Well done all of the Flames gymnasts and coaches who took part in the West Midlands Regional Championships this weekend. Especially well done to Carys Maloney who won the silver medal in the Level 2 out of age competition (with 2nd place on vault and beam and 3rd on floor). Also well done to Talia Murphy (2nd place on vault in the Level 2 In Age comp); Elise Chang (4th overall and 2nd on vault in the Junior FIG competition); Cori Breilat (2nd on vault in the Level 2 12/13yr competition); Morgan Watkins (3rd place on bars in the Level 2 14+ yrs competition); Tahlia Hunter (4th overall and 1st on beam in the Level 3 13+yrs competition); Lucy Halford (2nd on vault in the Level 3 13+ yrs competition); Hannah Shroff (4th overall and 2nd on vault and 3rd on bars in the Level 4 10/11 yrs competition). The full set of results can be found on the results page and by clicking here.

We now look forward to the Level 5 competition in a few weeks time, and also to the West Midlands Gymnastics Association awards next Sunday - we have some of our volunteers in line for awards!

News Update 28th September 2015. Due to abuse of the Guest Book page this has now been discontinued. If you need to contact the club this should be done using the this NEW email address.. flames_gymnastics_club@yahoo.com

or gymnastics@flamesgymclub.org.uk or clicking the link at the botton of each page.

News Update 9th September 2015 - Sorry its been so long since our last news update. We hope you have all had a lovely long summer, and for many of you enjoyed this has included taking a holiday away from the usual hustle and bustle of life in Birmingham. Now we are all back to 'normality' with a new term at school and a new gymnastics competition season upon us. Good luck to all our gymnasts as they prepare for the first of the Autumn competitions which is the Regional Championships on the 3rd and 4th October at GMAC.

Parents!! please note the following:
- Training fees are due; costs vary according to how many sessions your child participates in, so please check the fees slip which is given to your daughter
- British Gymnastics membership (insurance) annual fee is due; the costs vary according to whether your child takes part in pre-school, recreational or competitive gymnastics so please check the fees slip
- West Midlands Gymnastics membership annual fee is due; this is just £1 for all children other than pre-school
- Competition Entry Fee (£22) is due for all gymnasts entered in the Regional Championships

These fees can be paid by bank transfer; cheque or cash. Please talk to Helen or Al if you have any queries about your daughter's fees.

News Update 20th July 2015 - Well done to all our Flames Gymnasts and coaches for another great competition weekend. 15 gymnasts took part in the Metropolitan County Championships which took place yesterday at Wolverhampton Gymnastics Club. Results can be found on our results page and also by clicking here. Pics will be posted on the photos page shortly. It was wonderful to see so many medals being won (10 of our 15 girls won a medal), and a big well done goes to our two gold medal winners Jasmine Khan-Spinger and Cori Breillat.

Now we have a bit of time (never quite enough though) to get the new skills gymnasts have been learning since finishing Grades competitions earlier in the year ready for their Regional competitions in the Autumn. The summer isnt a time for rest and holidays in the world of gymnastics!!! Learning skills takes hard work and dedication from all involved, gymnasts, coaches, parents ...... if you are one of those you will know just what I mean!

News Update 13th July 2015 - Congratulations to Fi Chang who has passed her Level 1 WA Coaching Award, and thank you to the gymnasts who went with her to her exam and helped her along the way.

Good luck to all of our gymnasts competing in the Metropolitan County Championships at Wolverhampton next weekend (Sunday 19th July). Parents if you havent received information about start and finish times or need to know the postcode of Wolves Gym Club please let Al know. Thank you judges for your help this weekend in the control (practice) competition, its always useful to know how much more work is needed!

Fees are due again! please can all gymnasts bring in their training fees and give to Helen or Al this week? Thank you as always for helping us to keep our books balanced! As many gymnasts will have seen, we have recently received two new red coaching blocks and a new safety mat, and we still have one half sized coaching block to be delivered (its at Wolverhampton, so hopefully we can get it back to Flames after the comp next weekend!)

News Update 21st June 2015 - Happy Fathers Day to all our Flames Dads and Granddads - I hope you have had a great day with no gym-type interruptions!

Congratulations to everyone at Flames - we achieved our Gymmark accreditation some months ago, and now our certificate has arrived it feels right to celebrate this wonderful achievement and to thank Helen Williamson for all her work to get us through this.

Memory Walk 2015 - does anyone wish to join Al in the memory walk at Cannon Hill Park on Sunday 13th September? If so, just sign up for the walk via the Alzheimers Society website and get walking and fundraising. If you dont want to do the walk yourself, but would like to donate towards the work of the Alzheimers Society, please donate via Al's just giving page https://www.justgiving.com/MW15alisonlast or pass on your donation at the club. Thank you to anyone who joins the walk or donates.

Here are a few updates to note:
- our next County squad training is on Sunday 28th June at Munrow, the session will include mid-year trials and we wish Anya good luck in her trial
- our next Regional squad training is on Thursday 2nd July at Munrow
- the County Championships are on Sunday 19th July at Woverhampton GC; Helen will be asking for entry fees soon!

News Update 25th May 2015 - Happy Spring Bank Holiday Monday everyone! Firstly a big 'sorry' for how long it has been since the website was last updated - no excuses other than the usual fact that there are sadly still only 24 hours in a day, and that just doesnt seem enough!

So what is our latest news? Well, since our last posting, we have had gymnasts competing in the Birmingham Friendly Championships and gymnasts competing in the national finals of the National Grades.

So, lets start with those two events:

Congratulations to Libby Seadon and CharlotteMiller for their great results at the Birmingham Friendly Championships which took place at Cocks Moors Woods Leisure Centre on the 16th May. Results can be found on our Results page and also by clicking on the link here.

Congratulations also to Megan Neale and Imogen (Pim) Evans who represented the West Midlands at the national finals of the National Grade 1 competition. This took place at Fenton Manor in Stoke on Trent on the 10th May. Meg had been carrying a troublesome injury from before the regional qualifiers, but battled through to make sure she could take her place at the comp. The west midlands did very well this year with the Compulsory Grades 4 & 3 teams both winning team silver, the National Grade 3 team winning team silver as well, and then the National Grade 2 team achieving 6th place, National Grade 1 achieved 8th place and the National Grade 4 team 10th place. Well done to all of our west midlands gymnasts from across the clubs of the region. The results of the National Grades are not yet available on the BG website, but I can let you know that Pim came in 28th place with a score of 56.75 and Meg 33rd with 55.15 Well done girls, I am always so proud of you all. Photos of Meg and Pim are on the pics page

Squad gymnasts please note that training will finish early (4pm) on saturday 13th June because of University Alumni events, and Sunday training is planned for Sunday 7th June 12-3.

All gymnasts (and parents!) - your fees are now due. Please bring your fees (cheque or cash) to your next training session or pay via BACS. Parents have been provided with BACS details on the fees slip. Thank you.
New kit - we have new kit being delivered this week .... hooray for much needed (red) coaching blocks (2 large blocks and 1 small one) and another 'crash' mat. Now all we need to do is hope that other clubs dont abuse and damaage them the way other kit gets damaged. Time will tell. Thank you to everyone who has helped to fund raise over the last few months to purchase this large anount of kit. You can be sure they will make a really big difference to training sessions.

News Update 5th April 2015 - Happy Easter everyone, and I hope you have had a peaceful day enjoying some of our new Spring sunshine. Our latest news is that we raised a wonderful £98 in the Easter Raffle, and we send our thanks to everyone who sold tickets, bought tickets and contributed to the hampers. Of course none of our raffles get organised without the help of Helen Williamson, so we send a mighty thanks to Helen too.

We also congratulate Fi Chang, one of our senior gymnasts / young coaches who has recently won her first year University tuition fees in a Network Rail competition for 16-18 year olds. You can read all about it via this link, and a photo of Fi has been added to our photo page. We are very proud of all of our gymnasts, and send lots of love and congrats to Fi on this latest success. http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/edgbaston-schoolgirl-scoops-university-fees-prize-in-national-it-competition-run-by-network-rail

News Update 22nd March 2015 – Another great competition weekend for Flames Gymnasts and Coaches!!! 13 Flames gymnasts competed in their Regional and National grades competition at GMAC and we are delighted with our 100% pass rate. Our gymnasts achieved 6 distinctions and 5 commended scores. We also had lots of apparatus top 3’s: Carys 2nd on floor, Meg H 1st on vault and 3rd on floor; Lucy 2nd on bars (a great way to spend your birthday Lucy, happy birthday!); Emily 3rd on bars; Talia 3rd on vault; Meg N 3rd on beam and 1st on R&C (wow!!); Pim 2nd on vault and 1st on beam (wow!!) Elise 1st on vault (fantastic!) and 3rd on floor.

Results are on the results page and can also be found by clicking the link here

I am very proud of how everyone pulled out the stops for their routines. Especially well done to the girls who have places in the W Mids team for National Finals (Meg N, Pim and Elise). National Finals will be at Fenton Manor during the weekend of the 9th and 10th May ….. Hopefully some of you will want to go and watch???

News Update 8th March 2015 – Congratulations to all of our gymnasts and coaches who took part in the first grades competition of the year at North Solihull Sports Centre. The results are fantastic, with all of our gymnasts achieving a ‘distinction’ score. So well done to Anya Halusi, Lea Van Gelder, Sophie Arens, Willow McKenzie and Jasmine Khan-Springer. Especially well done to Jasmine and her coaches Amy & Natasha; and Anya and her coach Ricky for their top 10 places. Results can be found on the 'comp results' page or by clicking here

Our next competition is in two weeks time, when the rest of the squad compete in their grades at GMAC.

News Update 9th February 2015 – Well, its been several weeks since our last update. January flew by in a blink of an eye. Lets hope the rest of the year passes at a more measured pace! In January Flames hosted a Birmingham TeaGym competition. This was the first TeamGym competition in the region, and although we only anticipated a small entry we were staggered to have over 180 gymnasts take part. TeamGym is a team form of competition gymnastics run under the ‘Gymnastics For All’ section of British Gymnastics. It is aimed at recreational gymnasts of all ages, and Flames not only hosted this event but also had 4 teams compete as well.

We were especially delighted to achieve 1st place in the Level 6 Micro/Junior Youth competition and 2nd place in the Level 6 Micro/Mini competition. A big well done to all the Flames gymnasts and coaches who took part in this new competition. Scores and photos will be posted soon (as soon as the web editor / resident technical expert returns from Switzerland!)

As with any competition, there is a lot of work behind the scenes to make it happen, and it is important to thank Lisa Rose for her help and guidance in preparing the teams and running the event, Helen Williamson for organizing the many parent volunteers, to Amy Clarke who made sure all the teams were in the right place at the right time, and all the Young Leaders and gymnasts who made sure the competition went as well as it did. It was a great success, thank you everyone! And the young leaders managed to put some money into the Young Leaders programme which will be used to fund their ongoing development. We also bought a new mat with help of British Gymnastics funding.

Congratulations Lauren Weston who has passed her Level 2 Coaching Award – well done Lauren …. We can now start to prepare for the level 3 award later this year when you turn 18! Thank you to the gymnasts who worked with Lauren during her exam.

News Update 2nd January 2015 - Happy New Year to all Flames gymnasts, coaches, judges and families. The county squad and regional squad membership lists can now be found on the Comp Squad info page (in the 2015 section). Congratulations to all gymnasts who have been offered places. Comp squad training tomorrow (Saturday 3rd Jan) 10-2. All training sessions back to usual times from next Tuesday 6th January.

News Upadate 21st December 2014 - Well the Club Competition went well. Congratulations to all those who took part, the gymnasts, judges and various helpers who made the day go so well. And a big thanks to parents and friends who provided support and encouragement. The raffle made £80.

There are loads of pictures that will shortly appear on the website. Any new parents please text or email Alison to give your consent for the pictures of your gymnast to appear on the website if you haven’t already done so.

Christmas Opening Times - There is no more recreational gymnastics sessions until the New Year, and we wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a great New Year. Sqaud gymnasts please note we are training this Tuesday 23rd 6-8 (circuit, displays and presents!), then back in on Tueday 30th 5-8 pm and Saturday 3rd 10-2.

Thank you for all the great support we have received from parents and gymnasts, and we look forward to another great year for Flames Gym Club!

News Update 15th December 2014 – Well what a great party night we all had on Saturday. Flames Gymnasts certainly know how to party!! With dancing, karaoke and a hot tub to keep all the gymnasts entertained, the parents were able to relax and chat. Thank you for all the ‘bring and share’ food and drink – there was more than enough to go round. An enormous thank you also to the group of Mums, led by Helen, who make all of our functions run so smoothly, and who help me to clear up at the end of the evening!

Congratulations to the gymnasts and coaches (and parents!) who managed to make it up bright and early the next morning to the County Trials. And, hot of the press, I am delighted to confirm all of our gymnasts who were tested have been offered a place. So that’s well done to Carys, Lucy, Hannah, Emily, Lea, Abigail, Willow and Jasmine. We still have two gymnasts to trial for squad, and we can update next month on how they get on.

Congratulations to the Flames Gymnasts who have already been offered a confirmed place in Regional Squad – Niamh, Meg, Pim, Elise, Iz, Cori and Talia. Regional Squad trials will take place for the remaining gymnasts who have still to secure a place.

News Update 8th December 2014 - Yet again Flames have had a busy weekend, with DE Photos taking studio and action photos on Saturday, raising funds for Flames with every picture purchased by parents. On Sunday some of our County Squad gymnasts represented the Metropolitan County Squad in the John Reeves Inter County Championships at Lilleshall. Well done to both the junior and the senior Metro teams. The Juniors achieved bronze medal position and the Seniors the silver medal position. Especially well done to Talia for clean routines on all pieces achieving the highest level 3 score of the day, and Carys who had a great floor routine with a breathtaking 11/2 twist. Scores can be found on the results page and by clicking here. A photo of the 4 Flames gymnasts will be posted to the pics page very soon.

News Update 23rd November 2014 - Lots of news to note but first and foremost, congratulations Brogan Greenwood who passed her Club Judging Course today with flying colours, and to Al who passed the Regional Judging Course. Now, onto all the news for Squad and Club parents:

Sat 29th Nov - Baby Gym as usual, then training 11-1.00 to make way for the Students' Competition. Sat pm trip to the ballet for everyone who booked tickets.
Sun 30th Squad training 2.30 -5.30p.m.

Sat 6th Dec - DE Photos will be at Flames Gym Club for action shots, studio shots, family portraits ... great christmas presents available for purchase on site, and with the added benefit of fundraising for Flames at the same time
Sun 7th Dec - Squad training cancelled

Sat 13th Dec - We are likely to finish training a little early as its our CHRISTMAS PARTY night!
Sun 14th Dec - County training and trials for 2015

Sat 20th Dec - Annual Club Champs after Baby Gym (finish about 3p.m.)

Tues 23rd Dec - No Club session but Squad Disp;ays and exchange of gifts .... and then home for a rest??

News Update 26th October 2014 - Well done Anya, Harri, Abi and Lea in the Level 5 Regional Championships. Scores are on the website but can also be seen by clicking on the links here: out of age results; in age results

News Update 20th October 2014 - Didnt we have a fantastic time at Gymfusion this weekend? The team looked great and did Lauren proud. Thank you Lauren for putting the routine together, and to Brogg and Fi, and all the Young Leaders for getting us ready in time. The pics are on the pics page and the video of the routine on the video page. Great work girls.

Now back to the serious stuff of competitions! Good luck to all our level 5 gymnasts taking part in next weekend's Regional Level 5 Championships. We know you'll do us proud Anya, Harriet, Abi and Lea.

This all means next Saturday Lauren and Amy will be at the competition and Lara will also be there judging - so squad training times for Saturday will be comfirmed tomorrow.

So much going on for the gym at the moment - Level 5 comp for Anya, Harriet, Lea and Abi; judging course for Al and Brogg; Volunteering at the Mens Artistic National Finals for Tash and the Young Leaders; Regional Team Championships for most of our squad girls; trip to the Nutcracker ballet .... and so it goes on, right through to Christmas, and we still have DE Photo shoot, the John Reeves Championships and the Club Championships to fit in!

Check our calendar page for training times ...

News Update 25th September 2014 - Sorry we havent yet posted photographs from last weekend's competition... its been yet another busy week at Flames Gym Club, this time sorting out volunteer applications for Flames Young Leaders to help at the Mens British Champs and also working on the routine and confirming arrangements for the Gymfusion event at Fenton on Sunday 19th October. We are of course also still preparing for the Level 5 competition the following weekend on the 25th October and National Finals for Talia the weekend after that! Gymnastics never sleeps!!!!

Please can all parents remember to bring in their daughter's training fees and BG and West Midlands membership fees as these are due now and gymnasts cannot participate without these (for insurance purposes). Thank you.

News Update 23rd September 2014 - A big congratulations to all of our gymnasts and coaches who competed in the West Midlands Regional Championships this weekend. We are especially delighted to note lots of top 10 places, including bronze medals for Megan Neale and Morgan Watkins and a National Finals place for Talia Murphy. Scores can be found on our results page and by clicking here.

Its fees time again! - Its now time to pay your training fees and annual British Gymnastics Association membership. Please download and complete the form from here and bring with your paymnent to the Club before the end of the month - thank you!

News Update 17th August 2014 -

Squad gymnasts and parents are reminded of the following diary dates: 31st August County Squad training; 4th September Regional Squad training (Worcester); 7th September Sunday training (1-4); 20-21st September Regional Championships at GMAC.

Parents of all Flames gymnasts are reminded that British Gymnastics and West Midlands membership will be due at the end of September, and this is a requirement for all Flames gymnasts. These payments will all be collected together in week commencing 23rd September. If you wish to make several payments over several weeks to the full amount, please discuss this with either Alison or Helen as soon as possible. Thank you.

News Update 13th July 2014 - Congratulations to all our gymnasts and coaches on their successful competition today. An enormous thanks to Helen and all fo the parents for their help and supportin organising and running the event. Thank you too to the Chelmsley Wood mums for their support at the scorers table. As always, I am immensely proud of our Flames gymnasts. The scores can be found on the results page and also by clicking here.

News Update 6th July 2014 - Well done ladies, we have so far raised £351.50 for the Race for Life Fund. If you still have money to donate, please can you collect it in and either donate via the Flames Gym Club R4L page or bring it in for Al to do on your behalf! Thank you, your fundraising makes a real difference. Remember 'Cancer, we're coming to get you'

See you all for a practice comp later today - judges are Serena, Lauren, Tash and Lara. Thanks judges, we are really pleased to have the opportunity to test out how ready we are for next weekend.

News Update 29th June 2014 - Congratulations to all the gymnasts, mums, coaches, judges and friends who took part in the Race for Life at Cannon Hill Park Birmingham today. We have raised hundreds of pounds ladies, so we are right to be very proud of ourselves. The on line donations reached £300 last night and we have lots of sponsor money still to come in from friends, family and colleagues. Great job!! Photos to follow on the photo page (there are some already tweeted on the front page). Our biggest thank you goes again to Helen for organising us, and keeping us all on track (and nearly turning up on time!) Thank you

Dont forget Regional Squad training this Thursday at Tamworth, and Sunday training next weekend - which will be a practice competition for the County Championships the following weekend.

Young Leaders, please bring in your log books and any certificates you have received next weekend so we can have an update session.

Training fees are due this week, please bring your fees with you to gym this week!

News Update 25th May 2014 - please remember change of training times for squad gymnasts on Saturday 14th June - finish at 3.00 p.m. to allow the Uni Students to hold a competition.

CONGRATULATIONS NATASHA MURPHY - who passed her level 1 coaching award today. All those hours in the gym have paid off! On to the next level soon we hope.

News Update 5th May 2014 - please note change of training times for squad gymnasts on Saturday 14th June - finish at 3.00 p.m. to allow the Uni Students to hold a competition.

Thank you to all the Mums, Young Leaders, Gymnasts, Judges and Coaches for all the help to organise and host / manage the National Grades Finals this weekend at Cocks Moors Woods. During the weekend we were paid more compliments than I can count, about our helpfulness, willingness and just the fact that we were so good at hosting! well done!! I have received two emails from British Gymnastics today thanking us for everything too. It was great to meet three young leaders from a different Leadership Academy who came to help us on Sunday - they were a real credit to their Clubs and Region.

In case you didnt see the results, they can be found on the BG site - and will be added onto our comp scores page soon. We have one photo to post on the pics page too. Oh, and the raffle raised a fantastic £225 towards new kit at the gym.

A really big well done to the Flames Gymnasts finalists who qualified to be in the West Midlands team: Imogen Evans, Mackenzie Watkins, Isobel James and Talia Murphy; and an enormous thank you to Helen Williamson and Lauren Weston for all your organisation! you made the Club look great (which we are of course).

News Update 5th May 2014 - please note change of training times for squad gymnasts on the following dates:

Saturday 17th May - finish at 1.30 p.m. to allow us time to watch the Grades National Finals at Cocks Moors Woods Leisure Centre, Kings Heath

Saturday 14th June - finish at 3.00 p.m. to allow the Uni Students to hold a competition.

News Update 27th April 2014 - amazing street dancer Nathan Marsh from Sky TV 'Got to Dance' spent a couple of crazy hours with the Flames Gym Club competition squad yesterday. Nathan taught the squad some new moves from different dance styles, and was wowed by a demonstration of the gymnasts tumbles. Nathan made the most of the time with us by learning a new skill for himself - how to do a standing tuck back somersault (we kept it safe by getting him to learn the skill into the foam pit). Photos and videos will be uploaded to the website soon. Some have already been tweeted so can be seen on the home page of this website. Nathan and his brother came to the club's Saturday morning classes many years ago, and we were delighted to invite him back to help the girls with their performance. We hope Nathan will be back in a few months to do some more work with the squad.

News Update 21st April 2014 - Congratulations to everyone who helped to make our Easter Raffle a great success. Our gymnasts, coaches and parents with a sweet tooth raised £82 and the first prize hamper was won by Niamh Taylor. For a list of the other prize winners please talk to Helen or Alison.

News Update 18th April 2014 - PLEASE REMEMBER training begins at 5pm this evening (and finishes at 6.30 or 8 depending on whether you are attending the recreational class or the competition squad training).

Our Gym Mums and coaches are planning to do Race for Life on the 29th June. We hope lots of Gym Mums, Aunties and Big Sisters will join us (and nans?). If you would like to join us please can you see our notice board or see Helen Williamson to find out how to sign up.

County Squad gymnasts please note a change of date for training - November training has changed to the 2nd November, 9-12. We will probably still hold our usual Sunday training in the afternoon, but will confirm nearer the time.

News Update 6th April 2014 - the Gym Mums and coaches are planning to do Race for Life on the 29th June. We hope lots of Gym Mums, Aunties and Big Sisters will join us (and nans?). If you would like to join us please can you let Helen Williamson or Al know ASAP as places are being booked up fast.

Good Beth for your Level 2 Coaching Exam today. Cant wait to hear from you about how it has gone.

Competition Squad members please note the following dates for your diaries:

Regional Squad training - the next training session is Thursday 10th April at Worcester and British gymnast Imogen Cairns (who competed at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics) has been invited to lead the warm up and run a choreography session with gymnasts.

Sunday Squad training in April will take place on Sunday 13th April from 11-2

County Squad training - the next sessions are on Sunday 27th April and 11th May

Regional Teams Competition date has been confirmed - November 16th

John Reeves Inter County Championships date has been confirmed - December 7th

News Update 16th March 2014

What a great weekend! Congratulations to all our gymnasts who competed in the Regional and National Grades Competition this weekend at the GMAC. We are very proud of our gymnasts, and especially pleased with gymnasts who made it into the national finals team, and of course our medallists. The full results can be found here, but in summary we had the following places:

Grade 11
Beth Fisher (3rd)

Grade 9

Carys Maloney (4th)
Cori Breilat (5th)

Grade 8
Talia Murphy (6th)
Lucy Halford (16th)
Oceane McDowell (21st)

Grade 7
Morgan Watkins (14th)

Grade 6
Izzy James (5th)
Mackenzie Watkins (6th)

Grade 5
Imogen Evans (1st)
Niamh Taylor (6th)
Megan Hughes (7th)

Regional Challenge
Elise Chang (2nd)

News Update 16th March 2014

Congratulations to our gymnasts (AJ, Niamh, Amalie and Harriet) and coaches (Lauren and Amy) who competed in the Regional Grades 14 and 13 this weekend. We are delighted that all of our gymnasts passed their grades and especially proud of Amalie Howard and Emily Gibbon who both achieved top 10 places. Scores can be found here and will be circulated soon. Photos should be published in a day or two - as soon as the webeditor has a chance to post them! Thank you to the coaches who work with Amy and Lauren to prepare the gymnasts (Brogan, Tori, Fi and Natasha).

Thank you - to our judges Rachel Johnson, Lara Williamson, Tori Pybus and Natasha Murphy for spending your time judging this weekend's grades competition. Gymnastics competitions are always dependent on people giving their free time to organise, coach or judge competitions for our gymnasts, so on behalf of the club, THANK YOU!

We say a huge 'well done' to Skye Sturdy who competed in the 10k Fradley run last weekend. Skye was the youngest competitor and completed the race in 1 hour 14 minutes, raising over £300 for the Alzheimers Society. You're a star Skye .... and we hope you recover from your foot injury really quickly too (the injury is as a result of gymnastics not running for the Alzheimers Society). We have a photo to post very soon.

Good luck girls as you spend the last week preparing for the Regional & National Grades competition next weekend - there's never been a better time to focus!!!

We're developing a new Flames website - we'll let you know when its ready, but we hope you will find it a whole heap easier to navigate than this one, and will have additional pages such as a calendar to help us to keep everyone informed and up to date.

Young Leaders Academy - it was great to see so many Flames gymnasts participating in the Heart Start and First Aid courses recently. Congratulations girls. We of course thank Brogan's Dad (Phil) for organising the Heart Start course at Northfield Fire Station, and to BG West Midlands for organising the First Aid course too. The girls did the Club proud and we now have 12 young people trained in first aid, ready to lend a hand if anything untoward happens in the gym - or beyond! Some photos have already been tweeted but there are more photos to post on the website very soon.

West Midlands Coaching Workshop - Rachel, Tori, Lauren and Brogan attended the recent Coaching Workshop learning about Club finances and about other branches of the Sport. They came back with lots of fundraising ideas, so hold on to your purses Mum's, they are coming your way very soonry soon.

News Update 27th February 2014

Are you
visiting the club on Saturday? All parents please note the
university ring road will be closed during the afternoon of
Saturday 1st March. Please use alternative parking in
Pritchatts Road.

County Squad gymnasts - Carys, Lucy, Meg H and Talia, please remember the next County
training session is on Sunday 9th March at Munrow.

Competition entry fees - gymnasts due to compete in the forthcoming grades competitions
please note your entry fees are now due. Entries are £22
for grades and £20 for regional challenge competition.

Consent - please can competition squad parents bring in consent forms so
we can publish the new squad photos on the website. Thank
you!

News Update 26th January 2014

Congratulations to Lauren H, Lauren W and Tori who all passed
their level 1 coaching qualification today. We are very
proud of you all. Thank you to the gymnasts and parents
who made sure our young coaches had gymnasts to help at the
exam.

News Update 13th January 2014

Squad
coaches, parents and gymnasts please note there has been a change to our Sunday training plans for the February, March and
April (due to lack of availability of the Munrow Sports
Centre):

February - no
Sunday training

March - Sunday
2nd March 12-3

April - Sunday
13th April 11-2

News Update 5th January 2014

A new competition squad information
page has been added to the club website to make it easier for
competition squad gymnasts and parents to find the information
needed in one place - if there is information you would like to
see added, please email us to let us know. you can email
from this website or using the following address: gymnastics@flamesgymclub.org.uk

News Update 1st JANUARY 2014!!!

2014 is here at last .....

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

Just a quick
reminder - there is no recreational class this Friday (3rd
January) but the competition squad will train from 6-9p.m.

Baby Gym will
run this Saturday (4th January) and then competition squad
training from 11-5.

All
recreational classes will recommence next week.

News Update
29th December 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

Even though we're
closed for a short holiday, the web team are still receiving
information for our website so read on if you want to know more
about Flames and Flames gymnasts in 2014:

2014
squad photos - will
be posted as soon as parents have signed consent forms, please
collect a consent form from Helen Williamson.

Gymmark - In 2014 Helen will be leading the work for the club to become
Gymmark registered. This is the quality mark awarded to
British Gymnastics Association registered Clubs when they are
able to demonstrate compliance with all of the quality
standards. We will be starting this process with an Annual
General Meeting at the end of January. We will make sure
we give you more information about this meeting once
arrangements have been confirmed.

Regional
Squad training - Based on competition
success in 2013, Elise Chang, Imogen Evans, Isobel James,
Mackenzie Watkins, Megan Neale and Skye Sturdy have all been
offered places in the West Midlands Regional Squad in 2014.
Also, Cori Breilat and Niamh Taylor have been invited to
trial for a place in January. Good luck Cori and Niamh.
Congratulations to all our gymnasts.